Monthly Archives: July 2013

As a lazy blogger, I’m reposting my Facebook post on the inaugural PAX Australia from the Sunday night after getting home. Find it below.

What a weekend. Thanks ‪#‎PAXAus‬ team, attendees, for such a positive vibe & especially everyone who said hi or came to the 3 panels I managed to swindle my way onto!

Just walking the event and chatting to people was great, so many cool things going on and people having fun. Having the time to stop and get a detailed look at something, or take in a panel, is what enlivens any con, and I felt like PAX was set up to make this feel easier to do. The exhibit hall was big, impressive, loud, vertical and cool. The marquee walkways between sections was genius and made it feel inclusive and cohesive. The food vendors were actually really good (MRBURGER!), and the Big Top area was actually relaxing, fun, energising, all the same time, with the mix of bean bags to chill out on, console games to play, and the constant murmur of people enjoying themselves at tabletop. It also had heaters. Oh man.

Had a great response to all of the panels – a real highlight and privilege to run two and be a guest on one.

A panel wrap up and shoutouts:

The Anime and Gaming panel on the Friday really set me on a high note, so many cool questions, people were really engaged and interested. From what felt like a fun, niche subject, to what was a packed out session to which we got heaps of good feedback, its clearly something people felt a strong positive response to. I think we’ll definitely have to do this one again.
Working at the Madman booth all Friday was a treat, even 5 weeks on the trot of doing cons, thanks to my colleagues and the enthusiastic attendees.
Big props to the panelists who joined me, Kwenton Bellette, Nathan Robert Cocks, T-Rex Jones, Jason O’Callaghan, Bradley D-Yoshii Jolly – what a smart bunch. I think we have video and audio of this one that we can piece together, so this will be fun to revisit.

On Saturday the Crafting a Game for the Otaku Crowdwas a treat, taking some of the anime panel themes but more strongly focusing on Japanese game development, thanks to special guest Miyauchi-san, of Omega Force, producer of the Dynasty Warriors games. Was really fascinating, and fun to be part of essentially a panel interview of the guest. The search for refinement and perfection in Japanese development was so intriguing, I had many questions to ask myself. Thanks heaps James Kozanecki for inviting me on the panel, Paul Houlihan for erudite, interesting and well crafted hosting, and Brad Jolly again for detailed knowledge! This was great.

Finally today, the State of Play: Competitive Gaming and Esportspanel was a rewarding one to be part of, touching on such an indepth topic was always going to be tricky to contain in an hour. Focusing on the organisers/organisations running events now felt like the right way to go, and sharing positive stories on the scene was really fun. I hope it serves as a good conversation starter and inspires some collaboration. BIG thank you and much credit to the participation of panelists Nick Vanzetti, Jessie Vonangel Rozema, Alex Walker, Mark West and Derek Reball, great contributions. Great to talk to and see many other fine esports people at the show and panel who contributed in some way. Working together, we can build it stronger